Your Guide to GW sports

Will Dempster

I appreciate the comments I recently received on my piece on Tony Taylor, GW’s first committed basketball recruit for next year. It was a cool experience and I hope everyone liked it.

Few questions I’ll answer. Feel free to e-mail me or comment on this blog with anything else. One question was why how could his competitiveness be a detriment? Well, as I said in the story, Taylor hates anything but perfection. His coach said he rarely is happy, unless he’s perfect. Taylor told me he’s happy, only when he does everything close to perfect.

An interesting question was posed on GWHoops.com: why don’t we do more of this. The answer, simply, is we don’t have the time or resources. I live in southern Connecticut, about 25 minutes from White Plains, and decided to do this story when I was home on winter break. Ben Solomon lives in New Jersey and drove to New York to take photos. We would like to do more but it’s simply too tough. We devote a lot of money to sports travel and cover nearly every GW game. To follow each recruit would be too difficult.

We will be working on a few large feature stories later this year along this vain.

There are times when reporters write a profile on a player, or a coach, that brings to light an entertaining or different side of that person that few have seen. There are times when reporters write celebratory articles when a team or person does something great. But there are also times when reporters have to ask tough questions. Andrew Alberg, in his third year writing for The Hatchet, did just that last week after a bludgeoning at Virginia Tech.

Anybody who is reading this post will know that Alberg asked GW head men’s basketball coach Karl Hobbs whether he thought he was outcoached after Hobbs told reporters that his team was outplayed. Hobbs said to ask him when he has top-50 recruits. Before serving as editor in chief, I was the sports editor and men’s basketball beat writer for two-and-a-half years. I can remember several instances when players said, flat out, that they got their butts beat. That’s a facet of sports – one team has to win. Is Hobbs absolved from all criticism because he’s the coach? Is it possible that a coach outdid him? Certainly. This GW men’s basketball team has lost five of its first eight games – the worst showing in more than a decade. In a conversation earlier this week, someone who works for the athletic department told me they thought this team is better than it’s playing. Is Karl Hobbs better than he is coaching? Does Hobbs’ response mean that he won’t be good again until he has some top-50 players?

The Hatchet invests a whole lot of time, money and effort into covering GW basketball. Since The Washington Post, Washington Times and other outlets do not travel with the team and often don’t cover home games, The Hatchet is the only outlet at most every game. So when Andrew asks Karl Hobbs, a University employee that makes upwards of $400,000 a year, a tough question, he should answer. If a reporter asked University President Steven Knapp about why GW doesn’t have sufficient research facilities (as we reported here) I wouldn’t expect Knapp to pull the reporter into the hallway and say “come back to me when I have a few hundred million more dollars.”

The Hatchet would be doing its readers a disservice if reporters did not ask tough questions of high-level, high-paid University employees.

Linda Bruno, the commissioner of the Atlantic 10, resigned after 13 years. Press release below, full story in tomorrow’s Hatchet.

Linda Bruno, the fourth commissioner in the history of the Atlantic 10 Conference, today announced her resignation, effective June 30, 2008. Bruno was named commissioner on June 14, 1994.

“After almost a decade-and-a-half with the Atlantic 10, I’ve decided it’s time for new challenges,” said Ms. Bruno. “I look back on the past 13 years with pride. The league has made tremendous strides, both on the field of play and off. We have strengthened our membership, strengthened our commitment to excel, and strengthened the future of the Atlantic 10.”

During her tenure, Ms. Bruno strengthened the Atlantic 10′s membership with the additions of Charlotte, Dayton, Fordham, La Salle, Richmond, and Saint Louis; negotiated two television contracts with ESPN – the most lucrative and extensive packages in league history; was among the first to sign a contract with College Sports Television; added women’s rowing, men’s and women’s outdoor track & field, and women’s lacrosse to the Conference’s championship slate; and created officiating bureaus for baseball, field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer and women’s volleyball to better serve those Atlantic 10 programs.

She also headed the Atlantic 10 as it evolved into one of the prominent basketball conferences in the country. Since 1994-95, the league has earned multiple berths to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament 11 times, including five bids in 1996-97 and 1997-98. Bruno also was responsible for securing the 2001 (regional) and 2006 (first and second rounds) NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournaments to Philadelphia, and the highly successful 2007 A-10 Men’s Basketball Championship at Boardwalk Hall marked the first of a two-year association with the Atlantic City (N.J.) Convention & Visitors Authority. She also began the Commissioner’s Honor Roll, which recognizes all Atlantic 10 student-athletes with a 3.5 GPA or better.

“On behalf of the Council of Presidents and the entire Atlantic 10 Conference, I want to thank Linda for her many years of service and commitment,” said Xavier University President Fr. Michael J. Graham, President of the Presidents Council of the Atlantic 10 Conference. “Linda’s leadership through the expansion process helped solidify the foundation of the Atlantic 10. Her insight on national issues has been unmatched and her efforts over these past 13 years have and will continue to go a long way in ensuring the future success of the league.”

Very sad news that Skip Prosser, of Wake Forest, died. Many may remember in 2004 that GW lost to Wake when they were No. 2 in the nation in Winston Salem, N.C. After the game, Prosser came on GW’s bus and told GW head coach Karl Hobbs and players how good they were and how good they could be. I remember Hobbs and the guys putting a lot of stock in that.

Greetings from Reunion Arena in the Lone Star state of Texas. Dallas is pretty muggy and Reunion Arena, antiquated 17,000-seat gem, is half empty. Surprising? GW’s first Sweet 16 game in 10 years is in about one hour and the GW brass is coming in. Not much Buff and blue to mention as of yet. GW brought along two team doctors, Kenneth Fine and another whose name slipped my mind. Atlantic 10 commish Linda Bruno was just talking to Coach McKeown. Steve Goff from The Washington Post is here as is WRGW Sports Director Vishal Aswani. Myself, Joanna Shapes and Ben Solomon are here from The Hatchet.

The first game between Purdue and Georgia is close and has been close all game. Who would GW rather play? Either team looks relatively beatable and the Colonials seem fired up. Stay tuned and pick up The Hatchet tomorrow to see how our deadline writing looks!

From today’s Hartford Courant: Freshman forward Ben Eaves said Tuesday he will transfer. Calhoun said Rhode Island, Davidson and George Washington are among the schools that have called with interest in Eaves.

Very interesting. Eaves is a forward at UConn, if you didn’t get that already.

The GW women’s basketball team is heading to Dallas for the Sweet 16 after beating up on Texas A&M in Los Angeles. The Colonials will face either North Carolina or Notre Dame Sunday in Dallas. Story to come soon.

I’m going to echo something Jake said after GW’s A-10 tournament win: wow. This was a systematic and thorough beat down by a better team. If GW had played its best, the game would have obviously been closer, but Vanderbilt still would have won. They moved the ball too well and GW was unable to adjust. Offensively, the Colonials looked lost most possessions and the open looks they did get did not go in.

The PA announcer at ARCO just announced “#15, from Baltimore, Md., Cheyenne Moore” as a starter. The team appeared confused, as Moore is out for the season and not with the team. Hollis, Rice, Koundjia, Elliott, and Akingbade are starting.

After finishing 10-3 in non-conference play, the Colonials have lost half of their 16 A-10 games thus far, and seven of their last nine since a win over Duquesne on Jan. 24. The same problems GW faced at Davidson permeate throughout their losses.

In an effort to change the culture and grow a little good luck for the team, head coach Gregg Ritchie’s no-shave policy seems it will stay in effect for a while. In a weather-shortened weekend series, GW won a pair of games at home against Niagara to improve to 4-1 on the season.

The Hatchet on the Go

Following the only home loss of the season, the Colonials went on a 19-game winning streak that saw them climb into the national rankings, set records and all but ensure the fulfillment of head coach Jonathan Tsipis’ goal.

The Colonials, which had trailed for a total of two seconds in their previous game, erased a Dayton lead with a three from Jonquel Jones that sparked an 11-point run on the way to a 67-56 win at the Smith Center, the team’s 19th straight.